On last week’s episode of The Walking Dead, Daryl covered up his friends’ hiding spot from the Reapers, but he may be in big trouble with Pope.
Promises Broken
In the world of TWD as it is in real life…it’s not what you know, but who you know. Unfortunately for Team Eugene, they have made one too many mistakes. Eugene and his team are clearing the surrounding area of the Commonwealth of walkers. The Commonwealth needs to expand. It’s hard work and a bit too much for Ezekiel. Luckily for the King, he is given IV fluids and antibiotics and bounces right back.
While Stephanie and Eugene continue the cleanup of refugee walkers who have the nerve to stumble on Commonwealth property, Yumiko makes an appointment to meet with Pamela Milton. Yumiko can’t wrap her head around her brother’s refusal to let people know that he is a successful doctor. Even though Tomi (Ian Anthony Dale) keeps assuring Yumiko that the Commonwealth is as much fun as a day at Disneyworld…that assurance goes up in smoke when Tomi is arrested.
Maggie and Negan finally shake hands and decide to work together to find food for Alexandria with the condition that Maggie doesn’t try to kill Negan. Gabe is called in as a witness to this deal. I don’t know if Maggie can keep her word, but for now, Negan is teaching her how to be a walker whisperer. With a huge horde following them, Negan and Maggie might be bringing the battle to the Reapers. I was curious about the holy man that Gabe spotted. Did the man know that Gabe was hiding in the woods? Does he belong to the Reapers?
We can’t forget Daryl and Leah (Lynn Collins) who are sent by Pope to hunt down Team Maggie. Instead, they find a man with a seriously wounded wife and a young son. Pope told Leah to kill any survivors, but Leah decides to let the man and child go free, while Daryl puts the wounded woman out of her misery. They now share a secret from Pope.
Conclusion
Spoiled brats! Oh yes, even TWD has their share of spoiled brats, and in this episode, we meet Sebastian (Teo Rapp-Olsson) the son of Pamela Milton (Laila Robins). Sebastian is the type of person that will put himself in danger, and when he is rescued from walkers by Eugene and Stephanie …insults Stephanie causing Eugene to react. That punch in the nose gets Eugene thrown in prison. I wonder if we will learn why Tomi was taken by the Storm Troopers.
This is the final season for TWD, and I have been writing reviews on this show for all 11 seasons, but I have to say that I am honestly enjoying this season. There will most likely be lots of death scenes involving some of our beloved characters, and who knows what will happen between Negan and Maggie, but over the eleven seasons…these characters have become family, and I am highly invested in their survival. I don’t handle loss that well, so I am hoping that there are some happy thoughts at the end to not leave me bitter.
Josh Hamilton as Lance Hornsby – The Walking Dead _ Season 11, Episode 5 – Photo Credit: Josh Stringer/AMC
When all you’re doing is fighting to survive each and every day…you are bound to have nightmares, and on this episode of The Walking Dead, Aaron has one hell of a freaky nightmare where he and Gracie are surrounded by all their former enemies: the Wolves, Saviors, and the Whisperers. Life is a struggle, but team Eugene, team Maggie, and team Aaron sure have their work cut out for them.
Out of the Ashes
I am going to talk about Judith (Cailey Fleming) before I go any further with the review of S11E05. This little peanut has been surviving the apocalypse since her birth. She is smart, resilient, mature, and lonely. Carl is dead, her father assumed dead, and Michonne is on some stupid mission that has made Judith and her little brother orphans. Judith helps the Alexandria community by teaching the other children how to fight, but the older boys tease her when she confronts them about playing with the dead. Their cruel words bring tears to her eyes.
Look, I was a teenager when my mother took off, I am in my seventies and it still bothers me, so when Judith cries because one of the boys had also broken the wooden plank that held her and Carl’s handprints…I feel for her. Thank goodness, Rosita (Christian Serratos) was there to calm our little Kick-ass warrior.
Alexandria
Don’t you hate when uninvited guests drop in unexpectantly? Jerry (Cooper Andrews) is taking care of business when he realizes that the walls have been breached again. How do these bags of bones still have the strength to push in the walls? I haven’t figured that one out yet, and apparently, neither have the showrunners. They walls go back up, but it is only a band-aid. Aaron and the others decide to head out to Hilltop to see if there is anything to scavenge from the ashes. While Carol, Lydia, Aaron, and Jerry head over to Hilltop, our little band of misfits are getting inducted into the Commonwealth.
Rocky Road Ice cream
The Commonwealth may be nothing more than a very bad Homeowners Association. A good friend of mine lives in a 55+ community where the bylaws are so strict that they would not permit her to have a ramp built for her husband who became totally wheelchaired bound. Her poor husband was trapped in the house. Criminal!
Team Eugene sit through a nifty commercial video that featured all the wonderful things about being a citizen of Commonwealth. They have law enforcement, schools, ice cream shops, bakeries, malls, and everything else needed to live the Utopian dream. Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton) may have been a used car salesperson in a former life because his video is definitely inviting. There is mention of a president: Pamela Milton. At the end of the video, Princess gets her two-dollar bill back, along with a job. Everyone gets a job except Yumiko who is invited to visit the state department for her job. They also get their assigned living quarters. Mercer (Michael James Shaw) may or may not be as bad ass as he pretends because Princess easily wraps him around her little finger.
While Yumiko heads to the state department, Eugene, Princess, Ezekiel and Stephanie tour the town and get themselves some ice cream. Eugene convinces Stephanie to allow him to contact Alexandria. Princess is put on watch duty as Eugene talks to Rosita, but only briefly (bad connection).
Yumiko located her brother, Tomi (Ian Anthony Dale) in a bakery. Even though he was surgeon before the apocalypse, Tomi is now absolutely happy baking cakes. He is enjoying his life as a baker, and the rows and rows of cookies, pies, and cakes attest to this joy.
Aaron
Ross Marquand’s Aaron has gone through a major transformation, and I feel that he is becoming “Rick” worthy. A true leader. After they arrive at Hilltop, Lydia (Cassady McClincy) realizes that the remaining walkers (former Hilltop citizens) are being herded. The group captures a Whisperer, who begs for his life and that of his family. But Aaron blocks out the pleas for mercy and uses a walker to get information from the man. This leads to the man being bitten.
Conclusion and Spoilers
I didn’t forget Team Maggie. Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) rest at an abandoned home where there is very little food to take back home. Negan wants to return to Alexandria, but Maggie wants to stay. They agree to wait until sundown. These two characters are both very powerful…and stubborn, but I think that Negan has a better sense of survival right now. Maggie was right about waiting because Gabe (Seth Gilliam) and Elijah (Okea Eme-Akwari) do show up and now the decision is made to wait for Daryl.
Unless you’ve ever been in a situation where you didn’t know where or when your next meal would be…you won’t understand how desperate the citizens of Alexandria are in. Hunger, and the constant threat of walkers and bad guys is enough to do real damage to one’s hope for survival. I think all these years of watching and reviewing TWD has made me more compassionate to the refugees who flock to our borders. They are hungry, desperate, and trying to protect their children. Instead of zombies, refugees are fleeing evil men doing evil deeds. Remember this the next time you push yourself away from the table, belly filled.
Alexandria is in danger. Hunger makes people do crazy things. Aaron allowed that walker to bite the Whisperer even though the man begged for his life. He would have done much worse to the man if Carol didn’t step in and tell him why it is important to keep your humanity in the worst of times. It was a good thing she did. They now know that Connie is alive.
Team Eugene was saved by the bell when Lance Hornsby steps in. Will they finally get to meet Pamela Milton? Will the children of Alexandria die from hunger before someone comes to the rescue? Where the hell is Michonne? Her kids need her.
I don’t know…maybe it’s because we are battling our own apocalypse in real time, what with Covid and the rise of Nazi sympathizers within our own country…but I am waiting for one bright spot in the final season of The Walking Dead. In this episode, we get a closer look of the Reapers.
Hunted
In this episode, while we know that Team Ezekiel is safe from harm at the moment, Team Maggie is not doing well at all. After escaping the subway tunnels, they are ambushed by the Reapers. This new enemy is very organized, methodical in their attacks, and almost Ninja like in their sudden appearances and disappearances. This episode was directed by Frederick Toye of Snowpiercer, The Boys, Watchmen, and Westworld fame.
With the latest Reaper attack we lose a few of Maggie’s team (Cole, Duncan, and Agatha). Many are injured, the rest scattered to the four winds. Maggie is adamant about finding food for the colony and even though Alden is badly wounded, she insists that they continue on their quest. Negan disagrees, but with a big sigh, he allows Maggie to lead the way.
Gabriel
One of the most important character developments in TWD is that of Seth Gilliam’s Gabriel Stokes. We have watched this man of God go from cowardly to brave, to almost fanatical in protecting his friends. Gabriel is not only in charge of dividing the meager supplies to the starving people of Alexandria and Hilltop, but he must also muster up the townsfolks’ faith in a benevolent Creator, while at the same time losing his. After being injured during the ambush, Gabriel escapes and on his journey to find his team, happens upon a wounded Reaper who taunts him into praying for his sorry ass. But…Gabriel is fresh out of mercy and tells the Reaper, “God isn’t here anymore” before killing the man.
I don’t think that Gabriel has completely given up on God, but he sure as hell is questioning God’s whereabouts. Haven’t we all these last two years of Covid? I hope that Gabriel survives the series finale because he is the gauge, the weathervane for the mental health of Alexandria. He is the glue that holds the town together in the absence of Rick and Michonne.
Carol
Carol played deliciously by Melissa McBride is another study in a character’s growth. Carol is sometimes more dangerous than the many enemies Team Rick has ever had to fight. She too went from meek and weak to Wonder Woman status within the eleven years that TWD has been on air. Carol, recently, has been played as a troublemaker by the writers and directors. I don’t know why they decided to play her as psychotic when that isn’t who she is. Big mistake. In this episode Carol in adamant about finding horses. They will need the horses to travel long distances to find supplies, but secretly she is hoping to also find Connie. Magna (Nadia Hilker) is afraid that Carol is giving Kelley (Angel Theory) false hope, but they and Rosita (Christian Serratos) go with Carol to find horses.
Conclusion
While Maggie (Lauren Cohan), Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and the injured Alden find shelter in a church, after barely escaping the warehouse full of Reapers…we get to check in on the children of Alexandria. As the wee ones play a game of Slap Jack, Judith (Cailey Fleming), Hershel (Kien Michael Spiller), RJ (Anthony Azor) and Gracie (Anabelle Holloway) talk about parents and life in general. These are pretty smart kids. They have to be in a world where you can instantly become a walker snack. It is Hershel, who has been on some very dangerous adventures with his mother, that teaches the children how to eat horse meat.
Horse meat? Yes, it seems that Team Carol, after finding a few half-eaten horses, finally locate some live horses. After bringing the horses back to Alexandria, Carol is tasked with the job of slaughtering one of the horses to feed the people of Alexandria. This is not something she wanted to do, but it is always our Carol who is assigned the dirty work that no one else wants to do.
Negan and Maggie are forced to leave Alden in the church, with the promise that they will take care of his child. I don’t know what happened to Daryl and we don’t know if Gabriel will catch up to Maggie, but I will tell you this…the Reapers are as dangerous as the Whisperers, but what they haven’t counted on is the teaming up of Maggie and Negan. The Reapers may have opened a Pandora’s box of big trouble. Let’s hope that Maggie and Negan don’t wind up killing each other before they destroy the Reapers.
The war between Maggie and Negan! Who will be the last one standing? I have my economy size bottle of Tums ready for tonight’s episode of The Walking Dead.
Acheron Part 2
Acheron is separated into three separate stories in this episode. Maggie, abandoned by an angry Negan, is outnumbered by railroad walkers, while her comrades search a train. Negan lies when they ask, “Where’s Maggie?” Why the others didn’t go looking for her, I don’t know, but they sure don’t have the loyalty that Daryl has for Dog. Apparently, Daryl and Dog have found an underground tunnel with lots of telling graffiti. Daryl finds a ton of money with messages written on the bills. Dog finds a hobo walker before taking off, with Daryl hot on his trail.
The Commonwealth
Back at the Commonwealth, Eugene is worried about Ezekiel. He is missing. Yumiko is worried about her brother and wants to speak to the manager. The manager is surprised how much Yumiko knows about the Commonwealth just from observation. Yumiko was a lawyer, and she knows what questions to ask her interrogators. It worked. They offered her a cup of coffee. Princess asks to use the bathroom and is thrilled to learn that they have toilet paper. When Princess and Yumiko don’t return, Eugene begins to panic.
Negan
While Maggie’s team moves through the train, they hear morse code. It’s an SOS. Maggie is alive, and she is really pissed off. Maggie has to decide if Negan lives or dies, but they are interrupted by Gage who is trapped outside of the train. Maggie leaves the kid to die. Gage commits suicide rather than become a walker snack. I know we’re supposed to believe that Maggie is a great leader, but I haven’t been impressed with her leadership skills, yet. Maggie does tell us a story of when she and Hershel found an old man. It turns out this man was a serial killer before the apocalypse. There are much worse things than walkers out in the world, and Maggie admits to the others that she lost some of her humanity when she discovered what the man had in his house.
Conclusion and Spoilers
After walker Gage (Jackson Pace) and his band of railway walkers break into the car, Maggie and the others are outnumbered until Daryl comes to the rescue in his famous kick ass fashion. Love the hand grenade!
Poor Eugene is all alone, and he is a mess. He doesn’t know where his friends are. They could be dead. He faces the interrogators again and is told that they are being processed. Eugene talks about his radio chats with Stephanie. Josh McDermitt did an amazing job tonight with his character, Eugene. I think this is the first time we have ever witnessed Eugene under the bright and unblinking light of a true confession. Eugene admits to his captors what a loser he is, and that he doesn’t want to lose his friends
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Look, no one is ever going to forget how Glenn died. That said, I think Negan has proven to us that there is a good side to him. He is trying to do the right thing and I still say it is all because of Judith. Maggie is a survivor, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a good leader. When civilization circles the drain, it will take team work to survive, and that means trusting your enemy. Will Maggie ever trust Negan? Let’s wait and see…but for now…Team Eugene has been welcomed into the Commonwealth as citizens with Eugene meeting Stephanie for the first time. I like this guy Mercer (Michael James Shaw). Let’s home he doesn’t turn out to be a dick.
Team Maggie doesn’t fare too well. They head over to a supply depot and run into the Reapers.
Oh no! Nothing like a battle of will between Maggie and Negan to push my blood pressure into the dangerous zone. This is the last season of The Walking Dead, let’s hope that the showrunners don’t ruin it by having our beloved characters change their story arc in this…the final season.
Acheron
The river of woe. That’s what Acheron is according to Greek Mythology. Acheron is the river of Hades, one of five. God knows that our friends in Alexandria are feeling this woe. Alexandria is devasted from the Whisperer attack. Their walls are weak, and their food supply will only last a few days. Gabe has to mediate arguments about the food shortage.
Maggie (Lauren Cohen) knows a place that they can get supplies, so she enlists Gabe (Seth Gilliam), Magna (Nadia Hilker), Kelly (Angel Theory), Jerry (Cooper Andrews), Alden (Callan McAuliffe) Daryl (Norman Reedus) Carol (Melissa McBride), Lydia (Cassady McClincy) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) to go to an old military base. Now all this time, Negan is trying to give some good advice, but Maggie is constantly shooting him down…which leaves Negan to wonder if this isn’t a suicide mission for him. Does Maggie want him dead? Yes, she does, but will she put a bullet in his head when no one is looking? Negan thinks so and says it aloud.
Princess
I don’t know about you but Princess, played by the talented Paola Lazaro, has definitely grown on me. Eugene (Josh McDermott), Ezekiel (Khary Payton), Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) and Princess are prisoners of the Commonwealth. They are routinely interrogated for information on who they are, and where they are from, along with other nasty mind games. The soldiers of the Commonwealth dress like Storm Troopers from Star Wars, which would be funny if we didn’t know how evil the Commonwealth is.
Princess has been very observant and learns which two guards are having a secret tryst without their superiors’ knowledge. This whole scene with her explaining what she has learned to her friends, is an absolute hoot. Going on what Princess knows, Yumiko and Eugene steal the body armor, but as they attempt an escape, Yumiko sees a snapshot on a wall with a message from her brother. She refuses to leave. Her brother might be one of the prisoners.
Conclusion
We have the Commonwealth, and we have the Reapers. But these two enemies are a piece of cake compared to the battle between Maggie and Negan. The military base that Maggie took the group to was stocked with bags of MREs which if you are not a prepper, is “Ready-to-Eat. These meals are self-contained, individual field rations for the military. Carol almost becomes walker lunch when she lags behind the group in order to fill her backpack with more food. It is very tense episode between the walkers and the fear that the Reapers are just waiting to attack.
Negan tries to point out warning signals to the group, but Maggie keeps shooting him down…which leads to the ending of this episode that blew my mind. Look, I almost stopped watching TWD when the writers and the showrunners started to portray Carol as a loose cannon. I did not like what they did with Carol…and to make matters worse, they even have Carol and Daryl fighting. This has really pissed me off.
Now, they are messing with Negan, who has been trying to walk the path of the enlightened. When the walkers become very active after a drop of blood hit one of the sleeping walkers, everyone has to scatter. Negan climbs up a ladder with Maggie close behind him. When her foot is grabbed tight by a walker, she looks to Negan for help…He walks away, and she loses her grip and falls backwards. If there was ever going to be peace between Maggie and Negan, episode 01 just blew it.
I need to get my economy sized bottle of Tums out of storage if I am to survive this final season.
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On last week’s episode of “The Walking Dead” Negan and Father Gabe proved that God works in mysterious ways, especially against walkers and disgruntled workers. This week, while Rosita attempts to keep Michonne out of the fray, Maggie has problems at Hilltop, and Rick meets with the “Queen of Trash.” Will she join Team Rick against Negan? Meet me after the jump. Continue reading →
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